Catholic Sensibility

If the glorification of personal experience is a failing of modern culture, then the conservatives have been coopted at least as badly as the mainstream. In some of the last few threads, guests tout their own personal stories (if you will) as part of their main argument for their particular ideologies. I know of several conservatives who have slammed such similar thinking elsewhere, decrying the so-called triumph of the subjective over the truth. First, let's confess this is a human failing, not endemic (or even particularly epidemic) to any specific ideology. An example of a white athlete: Let's say that this person has an experience of getting his butt kicked by other athletes who happen to be black. It's a tough experience, and the white athlete grudgingly concedes these opponents are better. That's an example of personal experience teaching someone a valuable lesson: I can't always win, and some people are better than I. Let's suppose our athlete takes this lesson a bit further: blacks are better athletes than whites, and begins making life suppositions around that extended principle: Blacks are good in athletics, but Whites are good in other things, maybe most other things. "I'm better," the athlete thinks, "in everything else but athletics ... and the rest of us are, too." You see the problem in the progression, right? The person has failed to make logical connections from the initial experience and the first conclusion. One might suspect that emotions such as bitterness, regretfulness, envy, and such have colored the subsequent judgments. This is one reason why racism and sexism are so prevalent in many modern societies. An initial limited experience is stretched to encompass things that do not logically follow. The comment about dismissing sociology and psychology because they treat homosexuality favorably. Vatican II teaches that the social sciences have much to offer the Church. Does it suggest we embrace the totality of the social sciences? It does not. These disciplines are tools to achieve greater ends: a healthier priesthood, being one. The American Medical Association does not accept homosexuality as a disorder. Do we reject surgery, pharmacology, gynecology, pediatrics, and other medical disciplines? Naturally not. In baseball, we occasionally have bench-clearing brawls. Terrible. Bad example for kids and adults alike. Do we reject baseball because of it? Baseball teaches teamwork, develops physical skill, and is a darned entertaining pasttime. When a brawl breaks out, we sit down, read our novel, go to the restroom, or head for the parking lot. We don't boycott baseball. Alcoholics abuse drink and cause untold suffering to their families. There are tens of millions of active alcoholics in the world, reaping unbelievably widespread damage in the wake of their addiction. Is our solution to shut down breweries, wineries, bars, and liquor stores? You tell me. People will continue to abuse logic to further their arguments. It happens; we make mistakes. We are prejudiced and permit our biases to color our judgment. What other conclusions can I add? 1. Being blinded by bias is not usually a stunning shortcoming. It is universal, in fact. Conservatives could recognize that. 2. Sometimes our biases help us to react more quickly and appropriately in situations which might demand less thought and more reaction. The internet is not usually one of those arenas. Writing and dialogue on blogs gives us more of an opportunity to ponder, reflect, and pray about what words come out of our brains. 3. Sometimes our modus operandi is to get an ideology, then go out and search for only the facts that fit our mindset. I'd prefer to be a more open observer of the universe and try to draw conclusions from what I learn, rather than learn only the things that fit my conclusions. Merry Christmas, all.